


A Little Help from My Friends

by Thecinnamonroll



Category: Zombies Run!
Genre: 5am, After the Homefront, Constructive Criticism Welcome, F/M, Female Runner Five, Fluff, I don’t know my man I just wanted to write something sweet., I haven’t written fanfic since 2015 please forgive me, One Shot, Season/Series 03 Spoilers, Short, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:27:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28220910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thecinnamonroll/pseuds/Thecinnamonroll
Summary: Max was always a matchmaker. She enlists Radio Cable to work on her hardest case yet. Can a carefully constructed playlist help Sam and Five realize feelings are mutual?
Relationships: Runner Five/Sam Yao
Kudos: 8





	A Little Help from My Friends

**Author's Note:**

> My first published fic that I wrote in a few hours after the bug got in my brain. Set sometime after the Homefront missions, sometime after the end of Season 2. 
> 
> I apologize for any errors, I had to get this out of my brain before it ate me alive! This is just a fluffy fic meant to show my love for my favorite operator and his favorite runner.

Five was coming home today. After months of coordination and work, all the runners would return home from the super horde. Sam, ever full of nervous energy, waited with bated breath.   
He had spent the entirety of the super horde lamenting over the fact that he had yet to confess his attraction to Five. He missed that stoic runner more than he could convey to her over Rofflenet. He had every opportunity, and the support of one very frustrated Dr. Meyers. It just never felt right. Five was always too busy with defeating maniacal capitalists or catching up on sleep, and Sam was always too busy planning Five’s next move with Janine. He wanted it to be romantic, memorable. Something to tell future children about.   
“My parents, they met at a New Year's celebration. He took the last moon cake that she wanted and so they shared. That’s sweet. Not ‘Da asked mum over the internet if she fancied him and she responded with ASCII text of a thumbs up.’” Sam had said.   
Romance was hard to arrange in the apocalypse, especially for Sam. Sam couldn’t lie to save his life, and he was even worse at keeping secrets. A surprise was out of the question. Maxine had tried to coax him into picking flowers the morning of her return, or a simple walk around the pond.   
“I asked Paula out over a strong drink. Five still has her stash of whiskey somewhere,” she had suggested, to Sam’s chagrin.   
“Five deserves more than an alcohol fueled love confession, Max. She deserves—“  
Maxine cut him off, dryly. “Romance. I know, I know. But it’s also a matter of ‘shit or get off the pot’, Sammy. She’s a catch. She won’t wait forever.”  
That sent Sam into a tailspin of anxiety. When Max walked past an hour later to meet with Jack and Eugene he was still seated at the desk, head in his hands. She had to help him somehow. 

Maxine became frantic as the gates were raised, heralding Five’s return. “He’s not going to say something.”  
“What’s the problem?” Jack replied, “They’ll figure it out eventually.”  
“Jack, I’m tired of hearing about it. I have Five in my ear going on about how there’s no way he likes her like that, and Sam going on about how there’s no way she likes him like that. Neither of them believes me when I tell them to just go for it!”  
“Wow Doc, if you can’t get bargain-bin Captain America and dollar store Robin Williams from Good Morning Vietnam! together, what kind of matchmaker are you?”  
“I came to you for help. You said you would. What am I supposed to do?”  
The PA crackled. “Dr. Meyers, report to the Med Tent for runner decontamination. I repeat, report to the Med Tent for runner decontamination.”  
“Gene and I are on for Radio Cable. We’ll figure something out. Sam always listens to our broadcasts.”  
“Dr. Meyers, report to the—“  
“I heard you! I’m coming,” she shouted to no one in particular. “I’ll be back to help as soon as I can.”

Jack queued up the first song while Eugene filled in Phil and Zoe over Rofflenet.   
“This song is an old Disney favorite— sure to warm the hearts of anyone who just made it home today!” He hit play on the track, and turned off their mics.   
“You don’t think Kiss the Girl is a little too heavy handed to start with, Jack?”  
“Did you tell Jody to make sure she had line of sight into the Comms Shack during her dishwashing shift?”  
“Yes. I get to pick the next song though. We’ve got to do this with a light touch.”

Sam was still where Max had left him when the song finally pierced through his anxiety fog. 

“She don’t got a lot to say but there’s something about her…”

Must be a kid’s birthday or something. 

Runner Five swayed slightly to the song blaring in the tent as Max checked her over for scrapes and scratches.   
“This was my favorite Disney movie,” she said, humming along.   
“You’re clean, Five. Here’s a shower token. Go get washed up.”  
“Thanks, Maxie.”  
“The showers closest to the Comms Shack usually still have hot water this time of day, if you’re looking for that.”  
Five brightened a bit at the idea of the Comms Shack and nodded. “Is Sam…?”  
“You were the last runner in the field. He’s probably still in the shack, if you hurry.” Five was out of the tent before Max could say anything else.   
“Nice to see you too,” she grumbled to herself. But no time to be mad. She had work to do. 

Gene had probably messaged too many people, asking their favorite love song. But for this to work he needed plausible deniability. As the last song ended he opened their mics. “Now, to spread the love we are doing an hour of requests. To start us off, here’s a request from our favorite runner, Jody! An oldie, but a goodie!”  
He pulled the tape for She Loves You by the Beatles, and slipped it in. “This one goes out to all the lovers out there.”

Sam was cleaning the Comms shack when he caught himself humming along. He was singing under his breath by the time he heard a knock on the door.   
“It’s open.”  
Sam looked up and dropped the rag he was holding as Five stepped through the door. “Runner Five!” Without thinking, he threw himself at her. Five instinctively bent her knees and caught him, lifting him up into a hug.   
“Sam Yao, has it been that long?” Her voice held that comforting rasp he missed so much.   
“Nine months, Five. You can put me down.”  
She squeezed him a little, and put his feet on the floor. Sam stepped back, feeling his ears turn pink as he studied Five.   
“Don’t worry, I missed you too.”  
Sam’s ears turned pinker and he realized he needed time. He needed to draft a plan to tell her how he felt.   
“Listen, Five, I’ve got to finish debriefing from all the runs today— you know how Amelia gets— but you’ve got the book you left here before the super horde. Why don’t you read for a little and then we can get dinner?” Sam barely paused between words.   
Five cocked her head. She seemed to have a question, but thought better of it. “Alright, Sam.” Five grabbed her book from its spot on Sam’s nightstand and settled herself on the floor. 

Jody had sent word to Gene that although there were promising beginnings, neither of them were talking. At that point, Max had joined them in their radio station, specially built to continue broadcasting even when missions were being run. The Major thought their morale boost was important, although Amelia was threatening to take it for secondary Comms.   
“What now?” Jack asked as the last song came to a close.   
“I have a request,” Max said. “It was Paula’s guilty pleasure— Five might like it?” She pulled it off the shelves.   
Gene opened their mic channel again. “Here’s a personal request from our own Dr. Meyers to her love, Paula. You know Gene, I had my first kiss to this song.”  
“I didn’t know you loved,” Jack paused to look at the tape before he put it in. “McFly! Well, perhaps we will have to make new memories to All About You.”

Max we right. As soon as the soft orchestral start began, Five was tapping her fingers on her thigh. Sam watched her out of the corner of his eye, trying to make it look like he was still debriefing.   
She began singing along softly and Sam found himself flushing. Even though it wasn’t directed at him, it felt like it was. He was frozen. 

Jack groaned as another message from Jody arrived at the door.   
“He’s just— just sitting there? So is she?”  
“Now you see my pain,” Max replied.   
“Maybe it’s just not the right mood?” Gene offered. “Here. In the inbox. Phil wanted Kiss by Prince.” Jack queued it up, and hoped. 

At this point the songs were too much to be coincidence. This had to be planned. Sam’s blush was deeper now. Five was oblivious, bobbing to the beat while reading.   
He was gripping the pen in his hand as though it were the last thing stopping him from diving in her lap and kissing her.   
“Almost done?”  
Sam’s reply was choked. “No. I have a few more pages to go.”  
“Are you alright?” She sounded concerned and tried to catch his eye. Sam wouldn’t look.   
“Fine. Just. Need to finish.”   
Five made a noise of agreement and continued reading. 

The radio show threw out Kiss Me by SixPence None The Richer, several Taylor Swift songs, and any part of the Beatles’ discography that referenced love. “I’m beginning to understand why you were so frustrated Dr. Meyers,” Gene said. “No kiss?” Jody shook her head.   
“Nothin’. I tried to do dishes as slow as possible and they’re still just… sitting there.”  
“We are out of requests. What are we supposed to do?”  
A ping.   
“Last ditch effort, Eugene. Everyone loves Elvis. Try a classic. Second shelf, third tape over.   
-Janine”  
Jack read the message as well and leaned over to the shelves to pull the tape. He smiled. “Here goes nothing.” He queued up the song and introduced it. “Alright. Last request, from our favorite farm owner. This song needs no introduction.”

“Wise men say…”

Sam heard the floorboards squeak as Five stood. His heart was in his throat. What was he supposed to do?  
She tapped his shoulder. “Dance with me?”  
Sam made a surprised noise. “What?”  
“C’mon, dance with me. Unless you don’t want to.”  
Sam turned around to see Five, arm extended, a half cocked grin on her face.   
“You want to dance with me?”  
“The song’s almost over. Do you want to dance or not?”

“Take my hand, take my whole life too…”

Sam allowed himself to be lifted from his chair. Five guided his hands to her waist, and placed her arms around his neck. She settled her head on his shoulder, and started to move. He could barely keep time as the thrum of his heart deafened him. Five led him in a gentle circle around the Comms shack, swaying the two of them in time.   
As the song ended she lifted her head, smiling at him.   
“Would now be an appropriate time to tell you that I missed you a lot?” she asked.   
“I missed you too.” His voice was thick.   
“But I missed you more than as a friend. I want to make that clear. I like you, Sam Yao.”  
Sam made that same strangled noise of surprise.   
“You? Like me?”  
Five giggled. “Me. I like you. Do you feel the same?”  
“Five—“  
She stepped back a little. “It’s alright if you don’t!”  
“No! No. That’s not it. I’ve spent the past hour thinking about how to tell you and this wasn’t how I expected it to go.”  
“What’d you expect?”  
“Honestly, for me to never say anything.”  
“Well, in celebration of that not happening, shall we kiss?”  
Sam didn’t hesitate, pressing his lips to hers. He tugged her closer to him again, trying not to smile too hard into the kiss. 

Janine stole a glance as she walked past the Comms shack. “Elvis always does the trick. You’re welcome, Mr. Yao.”

The cheer that went up when Janine arrived and shared the news was loud enough that Sam and Five heard it, but they were too preoccupied to care. They drew blinds in the Comms shack— they had lost time to make up for.


End file.
